Merciful

His Word:God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NLT

Our Walk:Mercy includes our ability to show compassion to others both friend and foe. An action usually accompanies compassion. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are admonished in the bible to love our enemies, to be compassionate to “the least of these” and to love one another. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic book, The Cost of Discipleship, describes the first disciples who received the Sermon on the Mount first hand this way; “. . . these followers of Jesus have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. . . they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the downtrodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tormented with anxiety . . . No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honor to shield him and take his shame upon themselves.” One day those that have shown mercy will be shown the ultimate mercy from God Himself as they stand before Him and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Their Wisdom:“The Lord's mercy often rides to the door of our heart upon the black horse of affliction.” ― Charles Spurgeon

But it is there in the messiness, in the conflicted and often confused ways we live our lives, that we can learn how much mercy matters to us all.” ― Mathew N. Schmalz, Mercy Matters: Opening Yourself to the Life-Changing Gift